The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General today issued a report identifying vulnerabilities in the hospital wage index system for Medicare payments. “As a result of these vulnerabilities, wage indexes may not always accurately reflect local labor prices and, therefore, Medicare payments to hospitals and other providers may not be appropriately adjusted to reflect local labor prices,” the report says. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services uses area wage indexes to adjust hospital payments annually to reflect local labor prices. CMS calculates each area’s wage index based on wage data submitted by acute care hospitals in their Medicare cost reports. OIG issued a number of recommendations for addressing the vulnerabilities.

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA Aug. 28 expressed support for the Preserving Patient Access to Accountable Care Act in comments to House and Senate sponsors of the bill. The…
Headline
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Aug. 21 announced the creation of a Healthcare Advisory…
Headline
A JAMA study published Aug. 18 found that plan design changes by Medicare Part D insurers, particularly for Medicare Advantage plans, following passage of the…
Chairperson's File
Public
The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act will bring big changes to health care. AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack joined me for a Leadership Dialogue…
Headline
The House Ways and Means Subcommittees on Health and Oversight held a joint hearing today to discuss lessons learned, challenges and opportunities to improve…
Headline
The AHA today expressed support for the Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act, a bill that would eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient…